Protective covering for oil tanks



Jan. 22, 1952 G. c. BULL PROTECTIVEYCOVERING FOR OIL TANKS 2 SHEETSSi-IEET 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1949 INVENTOR- B'LEN B .BULL

A. TTUBNE' Y Jan. 22, 1952 G. c. BULL 2,583,321

PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR OIL TANKS Filed Jan. 17, 1949 2 SHEETS-SI-IEET 2 INVENTOR. GLEN BJBULL ATTDHNEY Patented Jan. 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PROTECTIVE COVERING FORv OILITANKS Glen Bull, Richmond, Ind.

ApplicationJanual-y- 17, 1949, Serial No. 71,252

7 3 Claims. 'I'hisiinvention. relates.v toprotective. coverings for oil tanks and like structures.

One of the. obiectsof theinvention is to. pro:

vide a. protective covering for tanks which will fully- .protect the tank against. corrosion, or other deleterious. destructive agents.

Another'object of the invention is ta provide a covering ,whichwill be of; suchla permanent nature. that a. single. application. will. be. good forthe. life of the tank so treated.

Another object of. the invention is to. provide a sheet metal covering for metal tanks. which is: highly resistant. to corrosion, and which. may be intimately applied to the. tank by an adhesive agent and a binder to. completely insulate the tank againstingress of. moisture or other destructiveelements and seal it against. electrolytic action.

Other objects and features of the. invention have todo with the. lappin of the. adjacent edgesof; the? covering, sheets, and. means for securely binding; the: sheet. against mechanical displacement from thesurface of the. tank.

In the drawings illustrating this invention,

Fig. 1* is. a. fragmentary view of. a tank. with the protective covering of my invention showing parts broken away and. parts in. section.

Fig. 2 is. a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale of the. tank andcovering.

Fig; 3; is a view in side elevation ofa. former and rigging for. shaping; andapplying. the covering, and

Fig; 4 is a fragmentary top. view on areduced scale of a tank with a portion of the rigging illustrated in Fig. 3.

In the practice of this: invention, I apply to the surface. of a tank 5, a plurality of. sheets 6 of highly corrosive resistant materiaL which, may be: aluminum, stainless steel, or any metal.v of similar characteristics.

The material insheet form is applied. in strips of any convenient widthbywrapping each sheet B=circumferentially of the tank 5, withthelower edge of-ctheupper strip overlying the upper edge of-the strip below it.

lower edge of each strip is provided'with an inwardly turned lap portion 8, which is folded over a doubled fabric strip 9; A strand I0 is enclosed, within the fold. of the fabric strip. 9 with its ends ll extended beyond the. adjacent ends of its companion strip 6.

As the strip 6 is applied to the tank, a layer of mastic material I2 is applied between thesurface H! of the tank andthe adjacent'face of the strip 6;: This layer of mastic is approximately-equal to the thickness ofjthe protective layer. of.meta1,.and it:may be; produced by coating both the surface I3 of the tank and the' in'ner surface of the strip 6 with the mastic material. The mastic layer is made sufficiently thick to 2. prevent direct contact of the two metals which might result in an electrolytic action.

The mastic material used has a no-fiow viscosity between very wide temperature limits. It

is suiiiciently viscous to permit spreading by brush or flowed; under slight pressure upon the surfaces to. be covered.

The fabric. strip 9 is formed. of a tape of suit.- able. material. thoroughly coated. upon both sides with, the mastic material and folded longitudinally in the middle to enclose the strand I!) in the fold. The strand I!) may be of aluminum although the material is not of importance so long as it has sufiicient strength to draw and bindthe. lower edge of the strip around the tank.

In applying'the covering to a tank, a strip of the covering material with the lap portion 3 containing the fabric, strip 8 and strand I0 is applied at one of its ends to the surface l3 of the. tank, and caused. to adhere. thereto by the application of the masticv to both the surface of the tank and the contacting face of the strip 5.. The free portion, of the strip will be progressively moved circumferentially of the tank S111? faceas the mastic material is applied to, the adjacent surfaces of the strip and tank. The operation. is continued until the adjacent ends of the. strip 6 are broughtv together. in slightly overlapping relation and secured by the mastic. material and. the. bindin tape and strand.

The procedure above described is started, at the bottom. of the tank and continued until a suflicient number. of strips. have been circumferentially applied to completely cover the out.- side surface of the tank.

At each end of each of the strips 6, a sufficient length of the strand I0 will be left so that the two ends maybe twisted. together as. at. H to draw the lower. edge of the strip tightly around the tank and provide against lifting of the edge by astrong wind.

A type of rigging which may be used to advantage. in applying the. covering, but. to. which no. claim is, made in-this application, is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. I

In these. figures, a supporting structure 20, comprises bottom and top platform. members 2| and 2-2, which are secured together in spaced relation by supporting members 23. Avertical drum 24 is rotatably supported between the members 2-! and 22. This drum carries the coveringmaterial. Rotatably supported. between brackets 25, bolted toa supporting member 23, is a spool 26; carrying a supply of the fabric tape. 9@ and strand Ill whichhave been preformed in; assembly and-treated with the mastic; compound. Two pairs of spaced guiding and. pres sure rollers- 2l and 28,--are= secured between; the upper and lower platform members 2| and 22 and engage the opposite sides of the covering i receive the portion of the fabric 9, covering the strand ID, to permit the faces of the rollers 27 and 28 to exert full pressure against the contasting faces of the coverin strip 6 and fabric tape 9. A smoothing and pressure roller 32, located at the front of the supporting structure 2 D, engages the covering strip combination along the line of the junction of the strip and the tank surface.

A bifurcated boom member 40 is rotatably supported at its inner end upon a supporting post 4| at the central top portion of the tank 5. At its outer end, the boom carries a block and tackle 42 from which the support 20 is suspended by means of cables 43 to be raised and lowered through the block and tackle. .Mounted upon the boom 40, adjacent the periphery of the tank 5, is a support 44 for a gear for turning a pulley 45. This pulley is connected by a belt 46, with a stationary sheave 47, securely anchored against rotation on the supporting post 4|, in such a manner that the rotation of the pulley 45 will swing the boom and the support 22 circumferentially of the tank. A stub shaft 48, connected with the gears in the support 44, carries a pulley 49 on its end, to be operated by a cable 50 to turn the pulley 45. A dolly wheel 52 interposed between the support 44 and the top surface of the tank provides an anti-friction support for the boom 40.

b When the free end of the combination covering strip 6 is brought into contact with the tank with the mastic adhesive material between them,

the adhesion will be sufiicient to anchor the parts to permit withdrawal of the covering strip and fabric tape from their reels and permit a continuous application of the protective strip by movement of the support 22 circumferentially of the tank.

The mastic material will be applied to the surface of the tank and the covering material in advance of the area of contact of the two surfaces.

Mastic material from a pressure supply tank 55 may be fed by a pipe 56 to a point just ahead of the complete closure of the lap 8 over the fabric 9 and strand ID. A supporting brace for the pipe 56 is secured to the lower face of the platform 22. The lower platform member 2| is made of greater area than the upper to give foot room for the operators. A safety cable 58 is supported by posts 59 secured to the lower platform 2|.

Slotted openings 6|, through the fabric strip 9, permit free movement of the plastic material from inside to outside, and vice versa, of the fabric strip.

While any metal of non-corrosive character and capable of being produced in the flexible sheets may be used in my invention, I prefer to use a fairly soft aluminum of a thickness between two and four one thousandths of an inch. Such material can be easily applied in smooth even layers free from wrinkles or folds in its surface.

' The layer of mastic material between the sur-:

4 faces of the tank provides adhesion which will effectively prevent relative displacement of the adjacent surfaces by slippage, and will prevent metal to metal contact which might result in an electrolytic action. At the same time, it has sufficient elasticity to permit relative expansion of the tank body and the covering material without producing checks or openings which will admit elements destructive to the surface of the tank.

Since the material of the covering is indestructible by natural elements, the covering should last indefinitely unless punctured or mutilated by mechanical means. Even under such conditions, unless the damage to the protective metal is considerable, it will be effectively sealed by the mastic material between it and the surface of the tank.

While I have shown and described my invention in what I believe to be the best embodiment, it is to be understood that the structure may be modified in any purview of my invention.

I claim: I I

'1. The combination with a metal tank of a protective covering for the outer surface thereof comprising sheets of relatively thin corrosion resisting metal extending circumferentially of the tank surface, each sheet being provided along one margin with a lapped portion adapted to overlie the plane edge of the adjacent sheet, an adhesive binding tape enfolded in the lapped portion of the sheet, and a tensioning strand enclosed within the adhesive tape with its ends extending beyond the ends of the tape.

2. The combination with a metal tank of a I protective covering for the outer surfaces thereof comprising a plurality of flexible corrosion resisting metal sheets extending circumferentially of the outer tank surface, each sheet being provided along its lower edge with an inturned portion forming a lap adapted to overlie the plane edges of the strip immediately below it, an adhesive tape enclosed within the lapped portion of the sheet to bind the adjacent portions together, and a tensioning strand of material en- I closed within the tape with its endsextending beyond the outer surface of the metal sheet.

3. The combination with a metal tank of a protective covering for the outer surface thereof comprising a plurality of strips of flexible corrosion resisting metal sheets extending circumferentially of the tank, each strip being provided on' its lower margin with an inwardly lapped portion adapted to overlie the upper plane edge of the strip vertically below it, a folded tape member covered with adhesive folded within the lapped edge of the metal strip, a flexible tensioning strand folded into the tape with its ends extending outwardly, and adhesive material coating the adjacent surfaces of the tank and'the protective strips. 1 1

' GLEN C. BULL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Trageser et al. 'Aug. 4, 1931 

